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Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
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She grew up listening to '70s soul and '80s hip-hop, but Erykah Badu drew more comparisons to Billie Holiday upon her breakout in 1997, after the release of her first album, Baduizm. The grooves and production on the album are bass-heavy R&B, but Badu's langurous, occasionally tortured vocals and delicate phrasing immediately removed her from the legion of cookie-cutter female R&B singers. A singer/songwriter responsible for all but one of the songs on Baduizm, she found a number 12 hit with her first single "On & On," which pushed the album to number two on the charts.

Born Erica Wright in Dallas in 1971, Badu attended a school of the arts and was working as a teacher and part-time singer in her hometown when she opened for D'Angelo at a 1994 show. D'Angelo's manager, Kedar Massenburg, was impressed with the performance and hooked her up with the singer to record a cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet "Precious Love." He also signed Badu to his recently formed Kedar Entertainment label, and served as producer for Baduizm, which also starred bassist Ron Carter and members of hip-hop avatars the Roots on several tracks. The first single, "On & On," became a number one R&B hit in early 1997, and Baduizm followed it to the top of the R&B album charts by March. Opening for R&B acts as well as rap's Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu stopped just short of number one on the pop album charts in April. Her Live album followed later in the year. In 2000 she returned with her highly anticipated second studio album, Mama's Gun, which was co-produced by Badu, James Poyser, Bilal and Jay Dee and contained the hit single "Bag Lady." Worldwide Underground, a loose affair billed as an EP despite being longer than many full-lengths, was released in 2003. Her next step, 2008's New AmErykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, initiated a series of planned releases across the following year. ~ John Bush, All Music GuideMore

Official Profile

Erykah Badu
Writer, producer, performer, actress, and visionary with pendulum timing, this four-time Grammy winn...
Songs: 1, Videos: 16, Playlists: 1, Blog Posts: 2, Polls: 0, Battles: 0

Most Popular Music Videos (6)

Honey
(Duration: 4:35)
Jul 15th, 6:36am
Next Lifetime
(Duration: 4:10)
Jul 16th, 6:47pm
Bag Lady
(Duration: 4:21)
Jul 21st, 11:47pm
Other Side Of The Game
(Duration: 6:41)
Jul 16th, 6:59pm
Didn't Cha Know
(Duration: 4:04)
Jul 15th, 3:52am
Bag Lady
(Duration: 3:38)
Jul 16th, 6:54pm
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Fan Comments

Oct 29th, 10:40pm
hey good looking
Oct 13th, 7:01pm
Hey everyone! Have you heard Alicia Key's newest single "Doesn't Mean Anything"! ?? Her new album out December 1st!. And it's amazing! go to youtube.com/watch?v=-SW_sNYTwfg
Oct 13th, 4:15am
I REALLY ADMIRE YOUR LIFE STYLE AND THE WAY YOU SING YOUR MUSIC....
YOU ARE MY INSPIRATION
Sep 5th, 7:39pm
Beautiful Erika
Aug 24th, 6:50pm
erykah she got great grooves and soulful melodies and funky vocal harmony her music teaches positive things about our black experinece,and i love her khemetic wisdom,she is hot menkura.
Jul 9th, 4:08pm
hey ERYKAH this is burt tell my dad i said hi
Jul 9th, 3:37pm
the Queen!!! love u ERYKAH!!!!!
Jun 29th, 6:54pm
UNDER RATED.
Jun 20th, 10:41am
i luv erykah and what she stands for as a woman.
Her music is just so powerful,the way she expresses
it noone will catch me slip pin. I share her music wit my
daughters so they can capture the knowledge she speaks on. ;
Jun 18th, 6:38am
love all ur music and style,can't wait to hear ur next album